Today is a recruiting D-Day of sorts for the Kansas Jayhawks and especially head coach Bill Self. After all, today is the day he hopes that high-profile recruits like DeAndre Daniels, Jamari Traylor and Trevor Lacey sign their names to become Jayhawks and restore a roster decimated by early entrants for the NBA Draft and graduation.
The names alone from the NBA Draft hopefuls would be enough to hurt any team significantly, especially the loss of twin brothers Markieff and Marcus Morris. But even senior leaders and producers like Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed and Mario Little are now gone, leaving Kansas without the depth and even scoring power they’re used to.
Enter the recruits, who all have KU listed among the finalists for their services. Both DeAndre Daniels and Jamari Traylor are teammates, so it’s easy to see them sticking together. Then again, Daniels committed early to Texas and then backed out after that, displaying a close connection to the program there enough for them to still be listed as the other of two finalists.
Lacey is supposed to be the “sure thing” with Kansas listed as the favorite overall, but the Huntsville star shooting guard has a final list of four — with Auburn, Kentucky and Alabama also in the mix.
Each player would bring a significant force to the team that’s sorely needed, so here’s hoping the Jayhawks pull a last-second recruiting coup and bring all three to Self’s squad. Combined with forward Thomas Robinson and others, it could mean a loaded KU team all over again.